Beauty From Pain
by smaragdbird
Summary: Phil finally takes Jasper on his offer in "Yes Men" (Coulson/Sitwell)


"You know usually when a friend wants a favour they do something nice – takes me to a nice restaurant, buys me a bottle of wine..."

"Want to got to a movie, hold hands? Okay. Now where – "

"I don't know where Director Fury is", Jasper said.

Phil gave him a long look.

"If Fury doesn't want to be found he can't be found. He finds you. You did something like that once." He still felt hurt that Phil's survival had been concealed for that long. He knew why it had been necessary but it still hurt. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"I pick the restaurant, you pick the movie. Let's say six tonight unless something comes up?"

"I...really?" Jasper asked.

"Why not?" Phil asked back.

"You shot me down when we were in New Mexico."

"A lot of things changed since then. Life's short. So what do you say?"

"Six sounds good." Jasper couldn't help but smile. "By the way, how was Tahiti?"

"It sucked." And even though Phil sped off without another word, Jasper couldn't stop smiling.

/

When Phil came into the cockpit Melinda gave him a look that would have sent lesser people running for the hills.

"I need favour", he said.

"I need better locks", she said.

"In case anything comes up tonight that is not an emergency could you cover for me?"

Melinda gave him a long look as if to see if he was kidding. "Are you actually taking personal time?"

"Yes. I have a date."

"A date?" Melinda gave him another disbelieving look.

"A date, you know two people who like each other spending time together to see if they're romantically compatible."

"I know what a date is."

"Will you do it?"

"If you tell me who your date is with."

"That's blackmail."

"I know."

For a long moment Phil was silent, then he said, "Jasper."

"Sitwell?"

"No, Cullen."

Evidently Melinda had read Twilight because the look she gave him was positively withering. "He's been crushing on you since forever. What changed?"

"I died."

Melinda shrugged as if that was a good enough answer for her. "Have good night then. Now get out."

/

Phil picked Jasper up at the Hub. He had changed out of his usual suit into something a little more casual which had resulted in odd looks from his team.

"Got a hot date, AC?" Skye had asked, leaning over the railing.

"Yes, I do", Phil had said but she hadn't looked like she believed him. None of them had except for Melinda who a) knew and b) hadn't been present.

"Hi", Jasper said when he saw Phil.

"Hey", Phil replied. "You look good."

"Thank you." There was just the slightest blush on Jasper's cheeks which Phil found adorable, not a word he usually applied to his fellow agents.

"Should we go? I found this great pancake place."

Jasper did very little to hide his smile. "Better than the one in New Mexico?"

"Hopefully. The one in Puente Antigo is a little out of the way to go there regularly."

"Nice car", Jasper said when he climbed into the passenger seat.

"Death has its perks."

"All eight seconds of it?"

"40 seconds at least." Phil's wry smile didn't quite reach his eyes but if Japer noticed he didn't say anything.

/

The pancakes were actually better than the ones in New Mexico had been. It turned out that Phil preferred his with jam while Jasper liked vanilla ice-cream with strawberries. It was easy to talk to each other. They had worked together for years and had gotten along flawlessly. It was slightly different now that they were meeting outside of a professional context and Phil found he liked it better. Now neither Jasper nor he had to keep a facade up and could relax into the conversation and casual touches.

The movie Japer had picked was fun too, mostly because it was hilariously bad and they nearly got kicked out of the cinema because they couldn't stop making fun of it. When Jasper rested his hand over Phil's in the middle of it, Phil laced their fingers together and held on until the credits rolled.

As they walked out of the cinema and towards the car Phil turned to him and said, "I had a great time." And kissed him.

After a split second's hesitation Jasper returned the kiss. Phil kissed as if he had waiting for this almost as long as Jasper had.

When they parted Jasper said, "I wasn't sure...Thank you."

"You're welcome" Phil said without a trace of sarcasm, his fingers trailing along the line of Jasper's jaw before dropping to his chest.

"Do you want to come up for a coffee?"

"You think I'm putting out on the first date?" Phil's voice gave nothing away. Jasper was about to backtrack when Phil's lips quirked up. "You're absolutely right."

"You are a changed man."

"Are you complaining?" Phil asked, leaning in.

"Not at all", Jasper replied, meeting him halfway.


End file.
